Where in my best friend becomes a SC

[Akasa]

And I give her ideas.

My best friend bought herself some boots for xmas. Not a month later they are falling apart. She takes the boots and the receipt to the store to get a refund or exchange and is denied.

They inform her that the store is an OUTLET store and they only sell irregulars, but they make you pay list price for everything so you would never guess this. After a few tacts they still refuse a reasonable request.

So she went through the entire store, at my urging, and showed EVERY SINGLE CUSTOMER her new boots, told them how long she'd had them, and that management was refusing to exchange or refund... in fact told her to glue the soles back on. That they say they only sell irregulars and are an outlet store as their reasons.

EVERYONE who was in the store put back the boots they were looking at and left.

These are no cheap boots, these are cowboy boots. Around $120 boots. You don't mess w/ people's pocket book to that extent.

[fma_fanatic]

Does the store in fact state that they are an outlet store anywhere at all? If not, then they can get into big trouble. Most importantly, did the store do anything for her after she'd driven the customers away?

[Akasa]

There is a tiny sign stating its an outlet store buried in all the sales ads, and no they did not. I told her to climb the manager chain, and even take it to the owner if need be.

[fma_fanatic]

Actually, I'd go one further. If it's a national chain, call the corporate office. I'm sure that somewhere on their website there's contact info and maybe drop an EECB.

[LillFilly]

Even if it's an 'outlet' do they state anywhere that they sell 'irregulars' which I take to mean factory seconds/imperfect products?

Because that situation sucks, especially at those prices! I think she was perfectly right to be upset.

[mikoyan29]

It's not being an SC if there is a reasonable bitch. $120 shoes falling apart within a month is a reasonable bitch in my opinion. Especially if the store doesn't state they are irregulars.

[Red_Dazes]

Honestly I don't think this was SC at ALL. if I drop $120 on a pair of shoes... hell if I drop $60 on a pair of shoes I expect them to last WELL over one month. I think you need to start doing some digging and get this complaint to corporate.

...Maybe have your friend post a letter on PFB? hehe.
BTW. Could you maybe tell us what the name of this chain is ((if they are a big chain in more than just your city)) so none of us haphazardly purchase shoes that don't last?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

They inform her that the store is an OUTLET store and they only sell irregulars, but they make you pay list price for everything so you would never guess this. After a few tacts they still refuse a reasonable request.

Irregular does not mean defective, or at least shouldn't. I'd be unhappy as well.

[PepperElf]

personally i've never heard that outlet stores only sold irregular merchandise

i just thought they were for larger items or bulk stuff

[Akasa]

The company is Justin's.

[Flying Grype]

personally i've never heard that outlet stores only sold irregular merchandise

I'd never heard that either, at least not in general. I've heard of food outlets selling factory seconds -- there was a big-brand bakery in my hometown that had an outlet store, and you could get drastically discounted stuff that wasn't cosmetically perfect, as well as just paying factory price for regular products.

When it's clothing and shoes I'm used to outlet stores selling overstock and discontinued items, never imperfects unless there's a tag right on it explaining 'zipper broken' or 'stain on waistband'.

[Magpie]

When I was a kid we always went to the factory outlet to buy our winter boots. The sold regular merchandise as well as seconds (and thirds). The seconds were always fine. I'm used to that being a case where the colours didn't match properly, or something of the sort. It was when you got thirds that there was actually noticeable damage to the items, and even then, aside from the problem, it was expected that the boots would last fine. (They might have punched an extra lace hole, or maybe there was a material flaw on the tongue.)

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

One of my favorite pairs of jeans is an imperfect.

There's a big-ass slit in one of the legs, from the bottom up to about halfway to the knee, that was stitched back together as inconspicuously as possibly and then sold. It's not even noticeable unless you look for it.

And I didn't even notice it for a long time. I was too enamored with how well they fit.

[LadyAndreca]

One of my favorite dresses as a teenager was an imperfect, from a store that sold imperfects. It was two layers, a gauzy printed layer over a solid under layer, and had two things wrong with it. First, the outer layer had been cut at a bad angle to the cloth, and didn't fall perfectly. (On a stick-thin girl like I was back then, that was impossible to notice.) Second, the under layer had been attached inside out. It was my favorite warm-weather dress, and in all the time I had it, no one ever noticed anything was wrong with it.